You can load resources from a DLL, but it's not exactly trivial and since you need an rc file it sort of makes it Windows Only.

You could always rename a zip file to dll and use physfs to open it :p

What are .dll's used for? Storing methods for classes? Datatypes? I am getting the picture .dll's are for windows applications and is not meant for games...

.Libs are used more often. But isn't it the same thing? Just a bunch of methods, data types and classes for your game? I want to impliment one or both in my game. I am getting sick of putting all my function defintions and classes in header files.

You are mixing things up. A .lib file is a file used at compile time. It can be statically linked in your program so that no DLL is needed or it can be a dynamic .lib file in which case when the program compiles it will need a corresponding .dll file to function.

Why are .dll files used? Well, for one thing, you could have a .dll that handles networking stuff. So when a bug arises in the networking code you would just have to give your users the updated .dll and they wouldn't have to download the whole game again.

Another thing is common dll files like kernel32.dll, user32.dll, etc. If it weren't for dynamic linking you would have to statically link all these DLLs in your program or ship them with your game adding unnecessary size to your game. But because these are dynamically linked at program startup and are available in every Windows installation you don't have to worry about them.

So, .lib files are used at compile time, .dll files are used at runtime. For more on .dll files, see the Wikipedia entry.

EDIT: beaten.

What coding does a .dll store? Function definations? Methods? Classes? External data types?

Everything you mentioned can be in a dll. Allegro 4/5 is in a dll. A virus could be in a dll. Basically, a DLL is in the same format as an PE file (.EXE) so everything that can be in an .exe file can be in a .dll file.

Again, read the Wikipedia entry.

EDIT: beaten again

Thanks for the advice guys. One last question...

I've read some documents regarding .dll's and .lib files. It's just like building an exe except the output is a .dll or a .lib instead. I've seen people have function definations, declarations and methods in these lib files.

I've been doing the same thing except I've been using header files.

Headers:
#include "Function prototypes.h"
#include "Function definations.h"

Is it almost the same thing? Should I bother using .libs instead? Both .lib and .h are static linked. So I don't think there's any advantages as far as space is concerned.

Tell me if this may be a good idea:
I can use .dll for levels and items. When the time comes I can release a "demo" which has level.dll... As the demos expand I can add more .dll or keep updating the old one without having users re-download and re-install. My issue is does this have to be a .dll? I can design my own file type .lin and have the game look for this file the same way it'd look for using the previous method. .dll can be shared by all programs, but my program is the only one that'll be accessing it. So I imagine I can just create my own file type and do the "updates" for each demo instead of venturing into unknown grounds...

I do want to learn more about them though, I just can't think of a good use for them in game development. Allegro uses .dll's but allegro isn't a game is it?

Header files are to define things. No executable code or instances of data should be in those. That's what the 'c' or 'cpp' extension is supposedly for.

DLL's allow you to break your exe up into separate files, not just one big chunk. One single DLL can be used by more than one exe. If you compile all the Allegro examples statically, each file will be several times the size of the ones that link to the DLL, since most examples only have a small amount of code compared to the size of the Allegro library.

You can give them the txt extension if you want, but common practice is to not put code and actual instances of data into header files.

I see. Thanks for the help. I am looking up some tutorials on making simple .dll's for console first.

I am programming an FF Tactics clone. However, I don't want to release demos, instead it's better to release it in modules. For example, the first release will have world 1, second release some time later will add world 2.. etc.. etc.

.Dll's would be a good idea in this situation since I don't want users to keep re-installing every update. I'd just have them download and replace the old .dll's. I can't do this with .libs.

Just in my mind I don't see how a .dll is any different compared to me just making my own file type (.lin) and have the .exe look for this file instead. Sure it can't be shared like a .dll, but my program is the only thing that would be calling it anyway. Maybe your right... .dll's have outlived their usefulness years ago...

Can you give me your opinion on what kind of files you guys prefer?

Do you make your own file types? Use .dlls? .libs? And what do you use them for?

I use physfs, which supports zip, directory, pak, etc. I don't yet know what I'm going to go with for my final release... I haven't decided yet if compressed or uncompressed will be better. On the one hand compressed files are smaller, but then the files load slower. It depends on whether or not our slowest target device can keep up while loading from a compressed archive or not.

Yeah, I'd think if loading was an issue, you could support both compressed and uncompressed, and on the slow devices, have it uncompress the data on install.